Lake Sourou (6025)
Burkina Faso, Africa
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2001
National site name: Lake Sourou
Central coordinates: Latitude: 12.8333, Longitude: -3.4667
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 252 to 252
Area of KBA (km2): 495.59838
Protected area coverage (%): 35.31
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The site is situated in the north-west of country, close to the international frontier with Mali in the northern Sudan sector, to the west of the town of Tougan. The Sourou river formerly flowed due south from Mali to join the Mouhoun river, west of the town of Sourou, except at the height of the wet season when there was a reverse flow from the Mouhoun into the Sourou. Since the early 1980s, however, its 55-km-long passage through Burkina Faso to the Mouhoun has been permanently flooded by the construction of a dam close to the confluence of the two rivers. The artificial lake varies from several hundred metres to 4 km wide and provides a vast area of shallows covered with perennial grasses such as Echinocloa pyramidalis, E. stagnina and Vossia cuspidata. The western banks of the lake are lined with, in effect, one vast Acacia thicket which, with increasing distance from the lake, merges into northern Sudan savanna in the south and sub-Sahelian grassland in the north. These areas, stretching west and north into Mali, are one of few remaining tracts of wilderness left in Burkina.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: See Box for key species. Although there are few data the site is known to hold what may be the largest concentration of wildfowl (Anatidae) in Burkina Faso, including large numbers of Plectropterus gambensis, Sarkidiornis melanotos, Alopochen aegyptiacus, Nettapus auritus, Dendrocygna bicolor and D. viduata. Palearctic species recorded include Anas acuta, A. querquedula and A. crecca. It is likely that at least some of these species will be found to exceed 1% threshold numbers. Non-bird biodiversity: A few individuals of most native species of larger mammals are said to be present, including the occasional Loxodonta africana (EN), ranging up from protected areas along the Mouhoun river to the south. In addition, Panthera leo (VU) and most of Burkina’s wild ungulates still have relict populations in the area. There is a large population of Hippopotamus amphibius in the lake.
Habitats
Land use: agriculture | hunting
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Shrubland | 12 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 77 | |
| Artificial - Aquatic | 10 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: The area is remote and despite the activities of local poachers is probably losing wildlife no faster than elsewhere in the country. A hunting concession for the area was granted in 1991. This worked well, at least initially, providing some protection for wildlife in the classified forest along the Mouhoun river to the south. The current situation is, however, unknown. Modern rice farming and irrigated agriculture are also being promoted at specific sites along the lake, mostly in central and northern parts of the eastern side.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Annual & perennial non-timber crops | Small-holder farming | Ongoing |